Agenda item

a)    Grant Showcase – Clarendon Juniors Football Club

b)    Community Engagement Manager Update  - Karen Linaker

c)     Community Policing – Inspector Sparrow to briefly present his latest update report, followed by Gary Higgins from SmartWater to deliver a brief presentation.

a)    Grant Showcase – Clarendon Juniors Football Club- Richard Pearce.

I came to you a year ago to ask for £5000 to support our club. We have many more teams now and were able to purchase 6 sets of floodlights. We can now light our pitch to increase the use for training session on the pitches.

We have 11 pitches to play on and the clubhouse is also used for a meeting place for members and families. We have expanded the club and now changed our plans to amend the toilet configuration.

We now need another set of goals, so if you have a spare £2,000 then yes please.

b)    Community Engagement Manager, Karen Linaker updated on the following:

•        Working with a local volunteer on a new eco-friendly villages directory

•        People were invited to sign up to a challenge at:

 www.wiltshirewildlife.org/waste-free-february

•        Planning for the launch of Make A Friend Be A Friend in Downton and surrounding villages - Wilton had just launched their project, Karen would watch how that pans out and learn from any mistakes there.

•        The ‘Our Community Matters’ Conference was planned for 2^nd April at Trafalgar School in Downton starting at 7.00pm.

•        Whiteparish Youth Group – A new Chairman was in place and there had been 30 young people in attendance at the vibrant youth club which was doing well. The activities commissioned by the Board were being enjoyed. They have some ideas and would also like to see the Police drop in to visit them.

•        Community Safety Directory – this initiative came out of the June meeting. The Chairman, Merv and Karen had been working together over the last three months on the full directory. A directory of resources to stimulate practical measures for people to protect themselves.

We would like the Parish Councils to appoint a Community Safety lead and consider what further guidance they would like.

c)     Community Policing – Inspector Pete Sparrow

In addition to the written Police update included in the pack, Pete explained that about 12 months ago there had been a spike in crime particularly in the Redlynch area. It was important as a community, people were able to take measures to protect themselves.

Pete introduced Gary Higgins Director of Smartwater who presented information on the product and proposals for a pilot scheme in the Southern Wiltshire community area.

•        A reduction in house burglaries in our communities

•        Rural and urban schemes available

•        Successful small village schemes protected by Smartwater.

One of the key elements was crime reduction. The Smartwater product had been around for around 25 years. If bought for your home, you would be sent a pack which contains a vile of Smartwater.

The liquid contains fluorescents which if activated, would remain on skin for up to six weeks, and longer on clothes. All that was required was a spot the size of a full-stop for forensic testing.

Over 30k churches had taken the contract to use Smartwater to protect the lead on their roofs.

The scientific part that made each sample unique was a mix of rare metals, not naturally occurring. When received, each pack contained a vile of Smartwater, for you to mark your property. Once applied, leave it to dry for 10 minutes and 24 hours to cure. Scan the unique reference number which comes with the Smartwater into an app and register your details.

If you suffer a burglary and items are recovered, the Police would scan them and be able to trace them back to you.

Criminals do not want to get Smartwater on them as it could be traced back to the crime. If they see the sign, they will avoid those properties.

Paperwork was available at the back of the hall for further details.

Pete – It was important to understand the science behind what we are trying to do. My proposal is to start with a pilot area. Landford, Redlynch and Whiteparish would be a manageable area to start with.

Questions

·       What was the cost to individual houses?

Answer: The best way was to do it in bulk. In my village every house has it, and that was part paid for by the PCC, and the PC, the remaining cost to each household worked out to be £10.

·       Had there been a marked increase of items recovered with the Smartwater on?

Answer: The main aim was prevention.

Pete – Police were also able to go to second-hand dealers and car bot sales, and using a UV torch could look for those items that may have been stolen. Police Officers carry a UV torch to check criminals over when caught, and tell them they are looking for Smartwater, this helps to spread the message that it is being used in the area.

The product is also used in many businesses, such as banks where it was used in a spray device to cover criminals when they break in.

·       How many items can you mark with one kit?

Answer: Around 50 items.

·       If you set up a pilot area, how do you stay on top of it when new people move in?

Answer: That would be for you to manage how many kits you buy.

Once you register it, it stays on the Smartwater database, you can contact us to inform of sale of goods etc.

Pete – we would like to see if there was an appetite for this as a trial in our area, and would be going out to the proposed parishes to see if there was enough of a take up, we need around 60 – 70% of households to participate in a scheme.

Working with working with the Area Board, the CEM and involving the PCC office, a proposal would be put together and circulated to the parish councils.  

I can put you in touch with the PCs that have already done this, to share how it was done.